Tapas in Madrid

I was in Madrid for a couple of days and want to share with you some of the food I had there. Most of my meals were tapas so I decided to put them all here in one post. I had a sit down degustation dinner on my first night, which I will feature in another separate post.

That day, lunch was at a place called Mercado de La Reina in Gran Via. For starters we had a bottle of Martin Codax Albariño white wine, a white from Galicia which is one of my favorites nowadays...with that we had a plate of Croquetas de Jamon Iberico and plate of Pimientos del Padrón. They are unique to a town called Padrón, in the south west of Galicia (La Coruña).The fresh, crispness of the wine was a good match to the Croquetas and Pimientos for starters...definitely enjoyed this one.

Later that afternoon, I met up with a friend who was in Madrid for a project and he took me for more tapas. But this time, he took me to the Santa Ana area (right behind my Hotel), very well known for it to have the highest ratio of tapas bar per sqm. in Madrid.

We started off in a Place called LA VENENCIA, a bar probably over 100 years old. All they serve is different kinds of Fino, a drier finer variety of Sherry. Unlike sherry, fino is not as sweet and has to be consumed right away, if not it could loose its flavour within a few hours. We had a couple of glasses of Fino and a Manzanilla, another variety of sherry, which was a bit fresher and more delicate in flavor. With every order comes a free tapa of olives and Chorizo...



After the quick stop in La Venencia, we headed towards a Tapas Bar called La Fragua de Vulcano, recommended by a friend of his. As we get there, the place is packed and we have to wait to be seated. After a 15 minute wait, we are finally seated. The place had no frills, very simple decor. The menu was very limited although they had their daily specials by the bar.

I found this sign, by the entrance of the place, very funny and amusing. Translated, It says:" Mr. Jesus Cerezal,owner and Founder of this F***ing House".

We ordered and the food came immediately. As for the wine, we asked for Red wine, and the only thing they ask you is if you want Rioja or Ribera del Duero, so hardly any choice for us. We decided on Ribera del Duero. With the wine, we had Empanadas, Calamares and Rabo de Toro.

Such simple but so delightful food. The Calamares was perfect, not too oily nor rubbery. The Oxtail was one of the best I've tried, served with a simple sauce and fries. We did not have more food since I was still too full from lunch, so right after we left to have a cortado (espresso macchiato) and headed back to the Hotel. Anybody in Madrid I would recommend this place for simple tapas...